Mortician&#39;s tools



Aug. 5, 1958 H. 5. DE VOE 'MORTICIAN'S TOOLS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 23, 1956 FIG.4.

INVENTOR BY I HarlanS.DVoe

ATTY.

Aug. 5, 1958 H. s. DE VOE 7 2,845,627

' MORTICIAN'S TOOLS Filed Jan. 25, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

y Harlan 8. DeVoe mast... rum

ATTY.

Unite 7 Claims. (Ci. 1-47) This invention relates to devices for closing the mouth of a corpse when preparing it for burial. Such devices have heretofore comprised a headed needle driven into the labial side of the upper jaw and another driven into the labial side of the lower jaw, both in the respective vestibule of the mouth. The protruding headed parts of the needles are then wired together to hold the jaws closed, and since the lips cover the wire, it is not unsightly. Difliculty has been encountered with devices for causing the needles to pierce the jaws because the tendency has been that the needle in the upper jaw slopes downwardly while the needle in the lower jaw slopes upwardly, with the result that in many instances, the holding power of the wire needles was impaired. It seems that the position of the lips in covering the jaws when in rigor mortis, tends to make it very diflicult to get the needles into proper jaw-piercing position, namely, incisally inclined. So it is an object of this invention to devise a tool that lends itself to easy use while so constructed and arranged that the mortician can accomplish his objective without particularly conscious thought about the desired angularity of the needles toward the cutting edge of the teeth. Another object is to devise such a tool that can, without change in the tool but only in its positioning, be used for piercing the needle into the upper jaw and into the lower jaw. Still a further object is to devise a tool having an arm and a pivoted finger, of which one is readily insertable in the oral cavity of the cropse behind either the upper or the lower jaw of the corpse, while the pivoted finger of the tool is readily insertable between the respective jaws and lips of the corpse in the vestibule. Another object is to devise such a tool that does its work noiselessly. Still another is to devise such a tool that can be used to apply forceful pressure, yet which can be used to apply little pressure if necessary, by the manual operation of a system of levers. Yet another object is to devise such a tool that can be readily detached from the needle once the needle is emplaced in the jaw of the corpse. A further object is to devise such a tool that will retain the needle in place on the tool irrespective of the position of the tool, until the mortician is ready to detach the tool from the emplaced needle. And yet another object is to devise such a tool with its system of levers, that the levers will not fall away from each other, irrespective of the position of the tool. And finally, it is an object of this invention to devise a guard or shield for emplacement in the vestibule of the mouth of the corpse on the labial side of the teeth or gums to hide the wire extending from one emplaced needle to the other or otherwise to smooth out the exterior appearance of the lips, wherein the shield or guard is self-sealing to hold it in its proper shielding position.

Some of these objects, and possibly others, can be realized by a lever with a handle on one side of its fulcrum pivot terminating on the other side of the pivot in a curved arm to enter the vestibule of the mouth and to go behind the jaw of the corpse, a finger curved toward the first and pivoted at the fulcrum of the lever, a second pivot supported from the handle, a second lever rockable on the second pivot, the rocking of whose free end moves the second jaw toward and away from the first jaw, and means on the pivoted finger for removably holding near the end thereof a bone-piercing needle while States Patent 2,845,627 Patented Aug. 5, 1958 that finger is so curved that when the tool is used to pierce the needle into the upper jaw the body and point of the needle are incisally inclined while when the tool i is reversed and used to pierce the needle 'into the lower jaw the body and point of the needle are also incisally inclined. Other novel apparatus details are pointed out in the claims.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 shows a side elevational view of the tool in place against the upper jaw of a corpse, and ready for needle-emplacing operation. Fig. 2 is a partial side elevational view of the tool after the needle has been so emplaced. Fig. 3 shows a partial plan View of the spring finger 28. Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of a headed needle 32 with the wire attached. Fig. 5 is a view much like Fig. 2 except that the tool has not yet reached completion of its needle-emplacing operation. Fig. 6 is a view like Fig. 2 except that the tool has just operated on the lower jaw of a corpse instead of an upper jaw. Fig. 7 is a partial sectional view taken along the line 77 of Fig. 5. Fig. 8 is a partial sectional view taken along the line 88 of Fig. 5. Fig. 9 shows an edge view of the guard or shield 50 of Fig. 10. Fig. 10 is a plan view of the guard or shield 50. Fig. 11 is a vertical sectional view through the mouth of the corpse showing the needles, wires, and guard in place between the lips and i the jaws.

In the drawings, the tool has a main lever L with a handle 11 on one side of its fulcrum pivot 12 terminating on the other side of the pivot in a curved claw-like arm 13 extending generally at a right angle to the handle, for entering the oral cavity of the mouth to extend behind the jaws of the corpse. A rockable claw-like finger 14 curved toward the arm (such like a lobsters claws), has its pivoted end bifurcated as at 15 and 16 and is pivotally secured to the main lever L by pivot 12. So that thei width of the main lever L may be no greater than the width of the finger 14 at its pivotal junction therewith, recesses 17 are provided on each side thereof. The outer edge 18 of the finger 14 is curved more or less arcuately, as shown, for a reason hereinafter given. The mainv lever L is provided with a projection 19, having a pointed? free end 20, with a pivot pin 21, on which is journalled a rockable second lever L having a handle portion 22.-

or power arm of the lever on one side of the pivot pin 21 and on the other a much shorter free work'arm end- 23 of the lever having a rounded, curved or cammed face 24 for contacting the curved outer edge 18 of the' finger 14. The free end 23 of the second lever L carries a pin or screw 25 around which takes a tie-wire 26 that is in turn fastened to or takes around another pin or screw 27 on the lower portion of the finger 14..

On the upper or more distant portion of the finger 14, i

andon the inside face thereof, there is a spring plate. 28 fastened to the finger as at 29, and whose free end 30 projects longitudinally beyond the end of the finger- 14 by which it can be sprung away from that jaw. Extending I laterally. inwardly from one side edge of the plate 28 is a slot 31, for holding a bone-piercing needle 32 having a fiat head 33, a pointed coned end 34, asecondary truncated coned middle portion 35, and a neck portion 36- joining the secondary coned portion to the head 33. Taking round the neck portions 36 is a wire 37 on one, and 38 on another, which can be twisted together as at 39- I In the drawings, 40 represents the upper jaw with its upper teeth 41 while 42 shows the lower teeth and 43- the lower jaw. lever L passes behind the jaws of the corpse and engages them at its end portion, it is provided with an anvil formed of a more or less resilient annular cushion 44, secured by a screw or rivet 45, and having a central depression 46 thereof. Fig.'11 shows a guard or shield When the curved jaw 13 of the main placed-between the jaws and teeth while covering the wires-37. and 38 to prevent them from forming a-ridge on the exterior of the lips. In other words, this guard smoothes the lips from indenting to follow the needles or theirz-wiresL :Flihe shieldorguardfitl is shown in Figs-9 and lO-and comprises :a .sheet or strip of rather soft -flexible latex rubber orsplastic 51 whose escalloped contour or marginsare shaped substantially as shown for easierinsertion'and emplacement and each side face'of the guard is coated with a pressure-responsive adhesive 52 whose functiomis-to-eause the shield to adhere to the jaws and teeth .on one of its faces, and to the lips on-its other side. fli-lreguard or shield, prior to actual use, is coveredl-on :each of its faces with two strips of adhesiveprotective fabric 53 and 54, whose free ends or tabs 55 and 56:are. arranged faceto face as shown in Fig. l-so they-canlbe independently removed from the shieldjust prior to .its. use and thus expose the adhesive on both its-faces.

IngFig. 2, the line CC is a theoretical line projected through the pivot 12, on each side of which center line, the arm 13 and finger 14 curve toward each other symmetrically, but particularly finger 14 is so curved that after it crosses the center line C moving in a direction toward-the arm 13, the needle 32 is incisally inclined. Thismeansthat the body of the needle in the upper jaw of.the corpse and even its point, is inclined downwardly to talgetheposition shown in Fig. 5. In other words, considering the horizontal plane in which lies the line of incision or the line of bite where the upper teeth and the .lower teeth come together, and considering the outer lirnits- 'ofthat plane to be the teeth themselves, then when the .words incisally inclined are used herein, it

means'directedtoward that plane. With this meaning, of course, the needle in the lower jaw be upwardly inclined while the needle in the upper jaw is downwardly inclined, and both of these needles are inclined generally towardeach other. This incisal inclination of the needles is amend-result of the functioning of the tool of this invention and this inclination is important to keep the wires taking around the needles from becoming displaced therefrom. This function is contributed to by curvature. of the arm and finger, but particularly of'finger 14,:so that is why the relationships have beenso illustrated in Fig. 2.

In operation, after the needle 32 is inserted in the slot of' the plate28 by springing the end 30 thereof away from its finger 14 for making such insertion easier, the arm 13 of the main lever L or handle 11, is inserted into the oral cavity of the mouth of the corpse until the free-end of arm 13 is positioned as shown in Fig. 1, with its annular cushion 44 against the inner surface of the upper jaw 40 of the corpse. Meanwhile handle 22 of the other lever'L is held in raised position as shown in Fig. 1, whereby through functioning of wire 26 to hold the finger 14 as far away as possible from the lips of the corpse. If it were not for the wire 26, gravity would cause the finger 14 to fall away from the'lever L and it would thus interfere with good operation of theitool. By fastening the wire as shown it carries out its function well yet does not affect adversely the other operations of the tool. It is to be noted though that the wire takes around the pin or screw 25 in one direction while taking around the other pin or screw 27 in the opposite direction, and when in the position of the tool shown'in Figs. 1, 2 and 5, the wire is inclinedupwardly from the screw-25 to the screw 27.

Next,'the mortician moves handle 22 downwardly to take the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1. As shown by the arrow, when the lever L is ,moved clockwise about .its pivot pin '21 supported elevatedly from the handle 11 by projection 19, the other end of thelever whose-rounded end 24 is in contact with the curved outer edge of finger 14, moves finger 14 inwardly toward the scalloped edges as shown.

upper jaw of the corpse, across the center line C,

along-an arcuate path, shown by dotted line A so-that when the finger 14 starts from its full line position of Fig. 1, its needle 32 is pointed upwardly whereas when the finger 14 terminates its movement in the position wherein the needle has pierced the jaw, the needle points downwardly or incisally. Upon reaching the latter full line position in Fig. 2 (dotted line position in Fig. l) the mortician gives the tool a slight sidewise movement that detaches the tool from the needle by sliding it out from the slot 31 in the spring plate 28. The handle 22 is then opened and the tool removed from the mouth of the corpse. But it is to be noted that by-the arrangement of the rounded free end 24 of the lever L little or much pressure can be exerted in the piercing of the bone of the upper jaw to implant the needle. Some such bone structure is not very hard so little piercing pressure is needed whereas others are quite hard and require forceful pressure. So, by the use of this tool, any requisite pressure can be used, since the pressure exerted by the rounded short end 24 of the lever L whose fulcrum lies in projection 19, is or can be greatly multiplied by the long lever arm embodied in handle 22. Figs. 1, 2 and 5 are provided to show the various positions assumed by the rounded end 24 of the free end oft-lever L as it moves or slides along the curved outer edge 18 of finger 14. The two are always in contact as a result of their being tied together by the wire 26.

Resilient anvil or buffer 44 can receive the point of the needle 32 in the event it passes completely through the jaw of the corpse.

Now the mortician is ready to implant a needle in the lower jaw of the corpse. So, after inserting a needle 32 in slot 31 of finger 28, he inverts the tool, as shown in Fig. 6, inserting the curved fixed arm 13 of the main lever L on handle 11, between the lips of the corpse through the vestibule of the mouth and between the jaws, until the cushion or bufier 44 takes the position shown in Fig. 6, whereupon he moves secondary lever L .by its handle 22 counter-clockwise or upwardly, whereupon the free rounded end 24 of that lever engages the curved outer edge 18 of the finger 14 to move it on its pivot 12 until the needle pierces the lower jaw as showninFig 6. Upon emplacement or implantationof the needle, here pointed or inclined upwardly and incisally, the tool is moved slightly sidewise, whereupon the tool is freed from the implanted needle by sliding the spring plate 28 to free the needle from the slot31 of that plate. Then the tool is removed from the mouth of the corpse.

The needles usually have a wire, such as 37 or 38, already secured in place around its neck portion 36. So after the needles are implanted, it is easy to tie the ends of the two wires together as shown in Fig. 11, although there are several ways of doing this, the particular manner of securing the needles together by means pf wires or a Wire being selected in view of the environmental circumstances. But after the wires are in place, the next step usually is to cover them with a shield or guard so they will not cause disfiguration of the lips. Such a guard might be called a mouth-former.

I have found that a flexible shield or guard such as shown in Fig. 11 to be satisfactory, particularly one with However, it is desirable ;to have the guard secured in place so it is not likely to be displaced, andtherefore I propose to cover each of its faces with an. adhesive, and then cover the faces with a protective fabric such as 53 and 54. These must be removed before use, so I have found that by forming the free ends of the protective fabric pieces 53 and 54 into overlapping tabs or butterflies 55 and 56, folded as shown in Figs. 9 and 10, they are easily removed, one section at a time. Namely, tab 56 when pulled (see 'Fig. 10,) peels off fabric section 53, and then when tab 55 is pulled, it peels off fabric section S ir-exposing the a adhesive 52 on flexible strip 51. The adhesive used must meet the requirement of the environment, namely, it must be moisture resistant to the extent required by the seepage moisture present although bearing in mind that there is nowhere near as much moisture to be resisted as in an active oral cavity.

Some of the advantages flowing from the use of embodiments of this invention include: It is quite in operation; as the pressure is applied manually, it can be regulated readily for the implantation of the needles to the desired depth of penetration without damaging or fracturing the bone plate structure of the jaws; all elements of the tool are purely mechanical and its operation is dependent upon contact pressure being applied through compound leverage by and to the moving parts which are pivoted to the fixed frame; there are no springs used,

-which are subject to breakage and permanent set; needles are readily implanted to any degree of angularity desired; the link between the movable jaw and the gripping handle transfers no pressure to or from either member since it is used only to permit the operator to obtain whatever span between the tools jaws that best suits the existing mouth size and structure; travel of the pivoted jaw toward the fixed jaw is limited by design so that the space between them in a fully closed position also tends to prevent damage or fracture of the jaw bone plate structure of the mouth; the resilient buffer on the top of the fixed jaw prevents rupturing of the mouth tissues by avoiding a metal-to-tissue contact; and the rubber-tipped fixed jaw provides a counteracting resistance to the pressure exerted on the pivoted jaw while implanting the needles for without such equalizing effect, serious damage to the bone plate structure of the mouth would occur.

As this invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, the present embodiment is therefore illustrative and not restrictive, since the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims, and all changes that fall within the metes and bounds of the claims or that form their functional as well as conjointly cooperative equivalents, are therefore intended to be embraced by those claims.

I claim:

1. A morticians tool for closing thejaws of a corpse in preparing the latter for burial, which comprises a lever with a handle on one side of its fulcrum pivot terminating on the other side of the pivot in a fixed curved arm for entering the oral cavity and vestibule of the mouth to extend behind the jaw of the corpse for engaging the inner face of the gums, a finger curved toward the arm and pivoted at the fulcrum of the lever substantially as long from the fulcrum as is the end of the lever from that fulcrum, a second pivot supported from the handle, a second lever rockable on the second pivot whose rocking moves the finger toward and away from the arm, and means on the finger for removably holding near the end of that jaw a bone-piercing needle, while the finger is so curved that when the tool is used to pierce the needle into the upper jaw of the corpse the body of the needle is incisally inclined while when the tool is reversed and used to pierce the needle into the lower jaw of the corpse the body of the needle is also incisally inclined.

2. A morticians tool for closing the jaws of a corpse in preparing the latter for burial, which comprises a lever with a handle on one side of its fulcrum pivot terminating on the other side of the pivot in a fixed arm curved substantially uniformly from the pivot to its free end for entering the vestibule of the mouth for engaging the inner face of the gums, a finger curved toward the arm and pivoted at the fulcrum of the lever substantially as long from the fulcrum as is the end of the lever from that fulcrum, the ends of which arm and finger when open and separated lie equidistantly on each side of a line pivot having a handle on one side thereof and a roundedfree end on the other that which when rocked contacts and moves the finger on its pivot toward and away from the terminal end of the arm, and means on the finger for removably holding near the end thereof a bone-piercing needle.

3. The tool according to claim 2, with the addition of a tie-wire extending between the rounded free end of the second lever and the finger biasing the finger toward the rounded end of the second lever.

4. The tool according to claim 2, with the addition of a resilient anvil carried near its end' on the inside of its curve and aligned with the needle of the finger when in jaw-piercing position.

5. A tool for inserting a needle in either jaw of a corpse, which comprises a handle terminating in a fixed arm generally at right angles thereto curved in the direction of the handle for entry into the mouth of the corpse to reach behind a jaw thereof for engaging the inner face of the gums, a projection from the intermediate section of the handle extending substantially parallel to the jaw, a finger curved toward the fixed arm and pivoted on the handle between the projection and the fixed arm for engagement with the front of a jaw of the corpse with the finger substantially as long as the fixed arm, a spring plate on the finger slotted for the detachable insertion therein of a headed needle, and a rockable lever fulcrumed on the projection having a rounded free end held in sliding contact with the outer edge of the curved finger whereby when the lever is rocked in its free end moves the finger toward and away from the arm on the handle meanwhile moving the needle on the finger through an arcuate path for piercing the needle into the front of a jaw of the corpse.

6. A tool for inserting a needle in either jaw of a corpse, which comprises a handle terminating in an arm curved in the direction of the handle for entry into the mouth of the corpse to reach behind a jaw thereof for engaging the inner face of the gums, a finger curved toward the first rockably pivoted on the handle to move in an arcuate path toward and away [from the arm for thus providing two curved elements of substantially equal length which when moved together press their ends one against the back of the jaw of the corpse, and one against the front, means on the finger for detachably carrying a headed needle thereon directed toward the arm, lever means supported from the handle whose work arm is rounded, and means for maintaining the rounded end of the work arm in constant sliding contact with the finger, whereby when the power arm of the lever is moved toward the handle the needle detachably carried by the finger is moved to pierce the jaw of the corpse.

7. A tool according to claim 6, with the addition of means carried by the finger for detachably holding the headed needle therein from which the needle when emplaced in the jaw of the corpse is detached from the latter means by lateral movement of the tool.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 20,407 Coes June 1, 1858 352,410 Howell Nov. 9, 1886 363,363 Chandler May 24, 1887 983,431 Fogleson Feb. 7, 1911 1,444,290 Westby Feb. 6, 1923 2,065,659 Cullen Dec. 29, 1936 2,142,614 Mitchell Jan. 3, 1939 2,212,339 Cullen Aug. 20, 1940 2,481,190 Binns Sept. 6, 1949 2,587,292 De Voe Feb. 26, 1952 

